“I need you to stay here, Lid.” Bet sniffled through her raw nostrils.
Liddy sat next to Bet on the bed and wrapped her arm around Bet’s shoulders. “I’m not going anywhere. Pink really isn’t my best color you know.”
“That’s too bad, because you almost have enough of it for a nice dress,” said Joy Lynn.
The issuing of pink slips and washing-out seemed to be happening more and more frequently. Increasing difficulty of the training and the level of exhaustion were a combination that didn’t foster success. The baymates moved to the head of the class at the last graduation, but the weeks ahead looked like months to them.
“Sometimes I think washing-out would be a blessing, and then I’d get some rest.” Marina curled up on the bed.
“Give us rain,” Louise called out to the sky and she and Joy Lynn linked arms and did a rain dance up and down the bay.
“A good storm would ground us, wouldn’t it?” asked Bet.
“Maybe the Fifinella can help us out.” Marina rolled onto her back and opened the student newspaper that was lying next to her, “Says here that the ‘foot high, curled horned little Gremlin that sits on top of the archway to the base has been known to be responsible for all kinds of aid and mischief’.”
Joy Lynn grabbed the paper. “Let me see that.” Joy Lynn continued to read, “‘The little Gremlin has been seen dancing on the wing, swinging on the throttle and known to lock the rudder forward’. Goes on to say, ‘All students must carry used postage stamps to pacify the Jinx.’”
“Used postage? What a crock,” Bet scoffed.
“I don’t know, there’s gals who’ve said they’ve seen them,” Louise teased.
“Definitely better to be safe,” Joy Lynn added.
“Did you know about this?” Bet asked Liddy.
“Oh, sure,” Liddy confirmed.
Bet looked around the room. “You all knew and didn’t tell me? You carry used postage when you fly?”
“Why not,” said Louise. “Couldn’t hurt.”
“Wouldn’t go up without it,” confirmed Marina.
“Slipped deep in my back pocket every time,” said Joy Lynn.
“How much postage?” Bet asked.
“As much as possible,” said Louise.
“Anyone have extra?” Bet asked.
They all shook their heads. Bet stormed out of the room and they all howled. Liddy couldn’t keep up the farce and chased after her. Laughter slowly chugged itself out and a hush draped over the room. Marina grabbed the paper back from Joy Lynn, scanned the text and questioned Joy Lynn with her eyes. Then she rolled off the bed and she and Joy Lynn began to pillage the cancelled postage from their old mail.
The first new class, since the gals had become the seniors, arrived at Avenger and timidly walked into the rec hall. As they passed by, Liddy and Bet were perched on the back of a sofa, and Bet zeroed in on one of the new trainees and called out to her, “Welcome to HP HQ, ladies. WC and FS in the SD are a little OS. Still have to make it to the FL by ten hundred hours so don’t OV.”
The girl’s eyes got big and her forehead wrinkled up in confusion as she stumbled into the back of one of her classmates.
“OV?” Liddy questioned Bet.
Bet shrugged with a grin and Liddy shook her head at her little HP friend, and then asked her, “You’re going up for your night-fly tomorrow, aren’t you?”
“Yup.”
“Take me with you,” said Liddy.
“Why?”
“I’m practically at the bottom of the list. I’ll never get up there.”
“What’s the big deal?” Bet asked.
“I’ve never been up at night.”
“How is that possible?”
“Even if Crik had the batteries and junk to light his ships up, they couldn’t take the weight. I hadn’t talked Jerry into letting me do nights. He was on the airfield’s shitlist for letting me go up at all.”
“But it’s supposed to be a solo,” Bet said.
“I’ll just ride, hands off.”
“What if we get caught?”
“We won’t. I’ll walk out with you to do your ground check, help you with your gear and just won’t come back in.” Liddy cocked her head and smiled at Bet. “Come on, hey a lot of the other gals have done it. Carla went up with Virgie a couple nights ago,” said Liddy.
“Oh, so if they jumped off a cliff, would you?”
“No, Mother, I wouldn’t. But I would fly off a cliff in the dark with Betsy Bailey at the stick.”
“I don’t know, Liddy, you get one more pink slip, and you’re out.”
Liddy had already thought about that, but when she got her second pink slip and Trent said what he said, stubbornness kicked Doubt’s butt and took his place. Stubbornness dared Major Reid Trent to issue Liddy another pink slip. Did he have it in him to end her WASP career? Did he want her gone?
“What a way to go, don’t ya think?” Liddy raised her eyebrows at Bet.
“No, I don’t.” Bet raised her eyebrows at Liddy. “It would be a stupid way to go, I think.”
Chapter Seventeen
The following day turned into an exceptionally dark night. Bet was nervous about letting Liddy sneak onto her night ride, but she was more nervous about flying in the blackness alone. Knowing Liddy would be there calmed her. Liddy carried Bet’s chute as they walked out to the plane. Their eyes scanned the flight line.
Bet climbed onto the wing as a group of instructors walked by. “Here’s your pack, Bailey, have a great flight.” Liddy said and tossed Bet the chute.
“Thanks, Hall, I will.”
Bet swung her leg over the pit wall and strapped in. When it was clear, Liddy hopped onto the wing and rolled her body into the rear cockpit. She crunched down low and waited for Bet to take them up.
The plane was airborne and Liddy’s hands were stretched high as they sailed away from the flare pots that lined the runway and flew into the darkness. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful and mysterious? Have you ever been in such nothingness?”
“Liddy, keep your eyes open. This is the creeps. I don’t like wondering what might be in front of me.”
“You’re doing great. Try to enjoy yourself, HP.” Liddy leaned back in the seat and looked up at the stars. “Show me your stuff, Bailey. I wanna look at the twinklers upside down.”
“Not a chance, Liddy, this is supposed to be a straight up flight,” said Bet.
“Come on, scoot out a ways and let’s have some fun.”
“No way,” Bet refused.
“Loop,” Liddy commanded.
“No, Liddy, I’m flying it straight.”
“Loop.”
“No.”
“Then I’ll loop her.”
“Liddy, do not touch that stick!”
“Spin her.”
“No, Liddy.”
“I’ll take it then.”
“Hands off, it’s mine.”
Bet mashed down and put some space between them and the base. She tilted the stick to the right and rolled the plane over, one revolution, two revolutions and still going.
“Okay, Bet, pull back up,” said Liddy.
“I can’t!”
“You got me, Bailey, but really. You better pull out.”
“I can’t, there’s nothing in the stick, no tension, nothing!”
It felt as though the spin flattened and tossed the plane like a disk.
“I’ll take it!” Liddy yelled.
“No!”
Liddy watched the altimeter drop as the plane kept spinning. “Bet, let me take it!”
“No!”
Without grabbing it, Liddy gave the stick a bat back and forth and could feel no resistance. Her stomach and her head were feeling the spin and she heard a whisper, ‘Mashed potatoes, mashed potatoes.” And she called out to Bet, “Bet, listen to me, whip the stick around like crazy, like you’re beating a bowl of mashed potatoes.”